"Julian May - Trillium 1 - Black Trillium" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

hunt, but armed stalwarts of King Voltrik shielded by the enchantment of a black-
hearted sorcerer."

"It is said by the Oddlings," Kadiya retorted, "that a woman of the royal house of
Ruwenda shall bring about the fall of Labornok by slaying its wicked king!"

"And you have nominated yourself as our savior?" Haramis uttered a bitter laugh,
and then tears sprang into her eyes, sparkling like a freshet bathing blue glacier
ice. She cried: "Leave be, silly one! Spare us your foolish posturing. Can't you see
how you distress our Mother?"


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Trillum 01 - Black Trillium by Bradley, May and Norton (v1.0) (html).html


The Queen drew herself up proudly. She, like Anigel, wore the traditional
Ruwendian court day-dress of unadorned satin, with its lattice-smocked sleeves
and bodice. The girl's dress was a soft rose-color; but that morning the Queen had
bid her handmaidens tire her in a gown and cape as crimson as blood.

Kalanthe said: "My heart is filled with sorrow and fear for all of us, but I know
my duty. Kadiya, put not your faith in Oddling prophecies. Our Nyssomu servants
have fled the Citadel for the safety of the Mazy Mire, leaving us to face the foe.
As to your warrior pretensions…" She began to cough, for billows of smoke were
rising up the wall as other magical devices of the invaders cast fireballs that
ignited the wooden buildings of the inner ward. "You must remain with us, as
befits your rank and station."

"Then I will be your defender," cried Princess Kadiya, "and that of my sisters. For
if the Oddling prophecy is known to King Voltrik, then he dare not leave one of us
royal women alive! I intend to sell my life dearly, and I will join Lord Manoparo
and the Oathed Companions shielding you, and die with them if fate decrees."

"Oh, Kadi, you can't!" sobbed the Princess Anigel. "We must hide and pray for the
White Lady to rescue us!"

"The White Lady is a myth!" Kadiya said. "We can only save ourselves."

"She is no myth," Anigel murmured, so softly that her voice was almost drowned
in the clamor of the fighting going on twenty ells beneath.

"Perhaps not," Haramis conceded, "but it seems that she has abdicated her
guardianship of this unhappy country. How else could the Labornoki host have
crossed the pass, traversed the Mire, and fallen upon the Citadel with impunity?"

"My daughters, be silent!" said the King. "The enemy will attack the keep at any
time, and I must soon leave you."

He bade them all withdraw from the open balcony into the chamber beyond,